Crescent Oaks Ministry

Jerome, Chris M., and Mario prayer walked through Crescent Oaks a couple weeks ago, which is a predominantly Muslim apartment complex. As Jerome walked past the bus stop he saw an older Muslim man and had a sudden tug on his heart from the Spirit. Before getting much further he turned around to go talk to him. The man said he was Moh Sin, the ‘children’s teacher’ for the mosque nearby. Jerome had seen a picture of Jesus graffitied outside the mosque just before this conversation, and he used this as an opportunity to share the gospel. (the graffiti was likely put up by a Christian as a result of the recent California attack by Muslims)

            Jerome started out by apologizing on behalf of Christians that his mosque was defaced and said that this was a well-meaning but senseless act. He also explained that Jesus does indeed want to reveal Himself to them, but through a very different way. This was a bridge to talk about what Jesus has done for us.

            By the end of their conversation Moh Sin said that he’d like for Jerome to come to the mosque sometime to share everything with the whole group. Last week, Jerome was preparing to go follow up with Moh Sin. As he was praying for his time he knelt down and hit his head on the corner of his bed frame, leaving him a gash between his eyes requiring stitches. Suffice to say, his meeting had to be cancelled.

             Please pray for Jerome as they try to meet up in the coming weeks. Pray that Moh Sin would be having dreams of Jesus and experiencing Him before they meet and that Jerome and other team members would be able to speak into many people’s lives as a result. Thanks!

Gifts of Love

Sugar Creek hosted their annual Gifts of Love program today, and we were blessed to get see how God used it in the lives of many international families. The goal of the program is to bring in certain low-income families and show them Christ’s love by providing gifts and celebrating the holiday with them.

This year our team was able to invite 30 refugee families (15 from each site). We were focusing on non-believing refugees, so as to share Christ with those who haven’t necessarily heard before, but there were a few believing families that we invited simply to be a blessing to them and build new bridges.

By the end of the night all the Nepali kids that attended had made decisions to follow Christ! One of the Nepali mothers that was there also committed to Jesus.

Please be praying for these new believers, that they'd grow close to Him, and pray for our team as we seek to reconnect with all the families. Our goal is to meet with every one of the families twice before the year is over. And we would love to see all these new contacts come into the Kingdom and become missional. In general, as we work with adults more and more the hope is that several families would begin operating as their own redemptive community that will begin multiplying over time. Thanks for the prayers!

As our team has been expanding, it's been amazing to see God move in new ways and new places.  We've been able to move into a new apartment in November, San Marcos.  This apartment is largely Hispanic with some African-American families as well.  A both physically and spiritually oppressive place, God has been making a way there.  Many members of both the Ranchester and Salem Oaks team have been praying over this place for months and ministering there.  Last week, while on the way to visit an Afghani family there (the only Afghani in the whole complex), a young Hispanic mother stopped us on the way and asked, "Do you live here?"  This opened a conversation about what we were here for and why we keep walking around the complex (to pray).  

This young woman, Diana, was amazingly prepared by God and told us God had prompted her to go and talk to us.  She had been having spiritual dreams about conquering satanic attacks and preaching the gospel to a neighboring apartment complex that's also been on our hearts. She instantly wanted to come with us and learn and told us she was willing to "do whatever we told her to do."  Wow!  We encouraged her that God had been telling us that He was preparing leaders in San Marcos Apartments to start a movement that would change that area, the city and even their home countries, and that we thought she was one of these leaders.  Diana received this word with tears, saying this was from God.  She ended our time with praying over us before we went to visit the Afghani family while listening to worship music in the laundromat.  We then prayed over her as she knelt among the washers and dryers with tears flowing down her face.   Pray for Diana as we continue to work with her.  God has big things in store.  

Next, we went to visit the Muslim family.  Though sometimes not allowed into a new home right away, this family received us with smiles and ushered us into a sitting room.  They served us tea and cookies and warmly talked to us for hours.  We shared briefly with them that we follow Isa (Jesus) and got to pray healing over their baby who was sick.  Today we visited them again and he was better!  They thanked us for their prayers, but please pray they will acknowledge that Jesus healed him!   

Night of Worship

Tonight we came together to worship the Lord with a number of the disciples here at Los Arcos. We desired to be a light to the community and let him see our love for each other and for him through this. There were around 70 people who showed up from about 7 different nations. Children as well as adults came to enjoy a time of fellowship, musical worship, bible study, and prayer. We dug into Colossians 2 tonight and two of our prayer points were praying for the lost here in Salem Oaks and repenting for the sins of the land. We then had a time of allowing God to give us direction at the end.

• Please pray that many of those on the fringes would be challenged by what they learned tonight and commit themselves to the Lord in a greater way. That they would they find their joy in truth so that they might desire be obedient to the Lord.
• Pray also that they would have favor as they complete the assignment of sharing what they learned with their families. 

Thanks!

Young Los Arcos Disciples

As we’re nearing the end of the year it’s great to be able to look back and see all that God has done within and through our team, and in particular, to establish a new ministry team in Los Arcos. And as the ministry here and the teams continue to change, it’s especially encouraging to see certain disciples remain faithful month after month.

Jacob has been discipling two boys for the 8 months he’s lived in Los Arcos, Greatday and Sangay (both about 12 years old). Despite their age, their intentionality and value for the Kingdom has been surprisingly consistent, and God continues to grow them as leaders. In addition to discipling certain key leaders, they lead a boys group every Friday (with only a bit of help from Jacob :)

Sangay (the 1st picture), a Nepali refugee, has been helping Alexis (Hispanic) to disciple Sujan (Nepali), who’s discipling Sandip (Nepali). In the past couple months Alexis has been unfaithful in discipleship, so Sangay has begun to work directly with Sujan.

Jacob was also discipling Sangay’s dad, Man, for a couple months (he was on the prayer blog a month ago). However, Man has been much busier with work as Christmas approaches, so discipleship has gone much slower. Man hopes to start looking for a disciple as soon as work slows down again.

Greatday (the 2nd picture), a Karen refugee, has been discipling both Mi Reh (Karenni) and Rekish (Nepali). Rekish, in turn, recently started discipling Dipesh (Nepali), and Mi Reh has been looking for a disciple.

Through the leading of the Spirit, Greatday and Sangay are leading many around them closer to Christ on a daily basis. Please lift them up in prayer as they continue to seek after Him. In particular, they could use prayer (1) that their disciples would see God’s vision in a deeper, more practical way and become more committed to the mission in general. (2) Pray that Greatday and Sangay would develop a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ over the coming weeks. And finally, (3) pray that God would grow a burden in their hearts for their own people, as we believe they could be key in seeing movements launched in the Nepali and Karen people groups. Thanks!

The Dillers

A little over two weeks ago, Zach and Hannah Diller, along with their one year old daughter Hadassah, joined the Ranchester team. After a short visit to Houston in July, they felt the call to join the team. They left their home, family, and friends in Indiana and haven't looked back since! They've already met many of their neighbors, invited children into their home, visited homes, and even shared the gospel with people!

Please pray specifically for the Dillers that they'll continue to lean on Christ during this big transition and be effective in their apartment complex in sharing the gospel!

McGathy's on Mission

Chris and Julia joined the Salem Oaks team in August. Since then they have hit ground running, and God has blessed them with tons of different connections. Here is an overview of the work Julia and Chris are currently involved in:

• Julia has been pouring into four girls ever since the couple arrived: Smirti, Sang Huang, Sang Muang, and Beh Meh. They are Christians but all four of them just made the decision recently to go deeper in their walk with Christ and follow him at a greater cost.
• An African woman named Phaza, the mother of Taher's disciple, Olivia, asked Julia to be discipled. That will happen through translation of Olivia. Please pray for the husband, Mkunzi. He is currently in jail for abusing the family. Pray against alcohol abuse in his life. Chris hopes to connect with him when he gets out.
  

• Chris has been connecting with people weekday mornings at the bus stop. There have been at least two people that Bibles were given to. He said they both held them tightly after they were given, one was actually snatched from his hands!
• Nemal is a Nepali man who is traditional Hindu. He only believes in one God. Chris was able to give him a Nepali Bible and he has been reading it comparing it to his religion.
• Chris met Ah Htoo a month ago before he left for the SD training. He's not Christian but Chris got to pray for him to find a job. During that month God provided a job for this man! Chris Block, a new Ranchester team member got to share with him, and at the end of their time the man initiated asking for prayer for his mother.

• Together they have been able to connect and build relationship with their neighbor, Marlon, and his family. They are Hispanic and they will be having dinner with them on Wednesday night.
• They also connected with a deaf Nepali couple, Dahn and Mani. They are Christian but they do not follow. Mormons have been coming to them giving them resources and info on the book of Mormon. Chris was able to show them truth and trade out the Mormon's book for the Bible.

Disciples in Port Lavaca

Just wanted to give an update on Polo (the one in the middle with the pink shirt). It’s probably been over a year since he was on the prayer blog, so here’s a brief recap in case you don’t remember. Kyaw started discipling him two years ago when they were 11. Polo was totally changed by the gospel when we first began teaching him, and his passion helped him to work through four generations of disciples pretty quickly. Last year, his family ended up moving to Port Lavaca (two hours south of Houston), which was a bit discouraging for him, considering all the disciples he had at the time.

He stayed in Houston with me (Jacob) for two months once his family moved, and after that I started making monthly trips to visit him in Port Lavaca and equip him to continue God’s work there. Polo was able to move back in with me throughout this past summer (which is something he hopes to do every year until he’s old enough to actually join the Keystone Team).

I got a chance to visit him again recently, and as always it’s encouraging to see his faithfulness and ongoing passion for the Lord. Fortunately, he’s been able to get plugged into a church there, which he attends at least every week, so even when I’m not there to help him I know that someone is helping to feed him spiritually and hold him accountable.

The two other faithful disciples we have there are Mi Paing and Say Paw (both 14-year-old Karen girls). All three disciples have been sharing the gospel with classmates ever since the new school year started and are actively looking for people to disciple themselves. They could all use your prayers, since they’re young people who have been changed by the gospel and are trying to do God’s work in their city largely on their own.

I believe God has a purpose in having them in Port Lavaca, and it’d be great if we could see a disciple-making movement begin in that city. Please continue praying for them, that they would be drawn closer to Christ daily and that they would have great authority even amongst their peers. It’s been hard for each of them to actually disciple people there, since classmates generally won’t listen as well as they would to adults. Also pray that our team would have great wisdom in knowing how to come alongside them effectively to support and equip them. Thanks!

Keystone, South Dakota

Throughout the month of October, 3 different "waves" of team members will be heading or have already arrived to The Keystone Project's home base in South Dakota. There is a month long training that many team members have been part of. During the training, they will be better equipped on how to reach the nations for Christ, as well as hear the more in-depth steps of Biblical discipleship. Another group of our team was able to go down for the last two weeks of the training, and the third group will be going down for the all- staff retreat the last week of this month. Please be in prayer for travel safety, for team unity, that this would indeed be a "retreat", and for each person to be challenged by the Lord!

Sancha's struggle

Over the past few years, various team members have spent time helping lead Sancha to Christ, discipling her, and encouraging her in her walk with the Lord. Sancha is Nepali, and most of her family members are not believers. They are close though and live in the same apartment complex. Here are some of the struggles she has had over the past months that you could specifically pray for:
1) Pray for increased faith in sharing the gospel, even though she continues to face opposition
2) Pray for wisdom for the doctors; she frequently gets dizzy and passes out as well as feels burning after eating almost all foods
3) Pray for their finances, that they would have enough to make ends meet
4) Pray for her husband, Harka, who is not a believer, which causes controversy in the home
5) Pray for strength in discipling her 3 year old daughter; her other family members who watch her daughter do not see eye to eye on discipline tactics

Connections into Salem Oaks area

Sanjay, a first generation disciple on the Salem Oaks team, has been reaching out to one of his classmates, Kay Htoo, at school. Kay Htoo is from Thailand. They started getting to know each other more this year because they have 2^nd period together and meet together at an after school program called PAIR, which helps tutor them. Through these they have gotten to get to know each other and share stories.

Kay Htoo and Sanjay both grew up Christian and attend churches in the area. Kay also got to share about how he’s had a life change in Christ. He’s known Kho and Hafsa since they were in middle school and has watched the Holy Spirit grow them.  Through that and other events that have taken place, God has ignited a fire in Kay Htoo’s heart for the Lord.

Last week Sanjay invited Kay to a group that meets on Sundays for the youth disciples here at Los Arcos and there, Sanjay got to share his testimony. He shared about how he grew up Christian, learning about God from church and his parents but never knew what it meant to have a personal relationship with God and disciple others. It was there and through that story that Kay decided to make a personal decision to follow Christ and make disciples.

Since then Sanjay has got to meet with Kay once. Kay lives in a different apartment complex about 10 minutes away, which is awesome! We have been praying to start reaching outside of Los Arcos and God’s starting to do that, but also can be difficult at his age.

Prayer points:

1.     Kay Htoo will be going through repentance soon

2.     Sanjay would immerse his life into Kay during school

3.     That they would be able to engage in mission together

4.     That they would be a light to their churches and be grounded in truth

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Keystone, SD Training

The month-long training up in Keystone, SD started last Sunday. This is an especially important training for our 3 new-ish team members, plus those that are planning to join the Houston Team once the training is finished. We could use as much prayer as we can get, since what happens at the training will set the pace for our team going into the new year.

Chris and Julia, as well as Jerome, left last week to be a part of it. It will be especially transformational for Chris and Julia, since they haven't had the chance to receive any Keystone training yet. The rest of the Houston Team will be traveling there in the next couple weeks to attend the Keystone Staff conference at the end of the training.

(1) Please pray that the Spirit would speak clearly and in a transformational way to Chris, Julia, Jerome and the potential Houston teammates that are there. (2) Pray for the staff conference in a couple weeks, that everyone would travel safely and the conference would be a unifying and Spirit-led event. And finally, (3) please pray for the disciples that will be here in Houston during that time, that they would continue to be faithful even when most of the leaders are absent. Thanks!

Meeting Physical Needs

This past week, a family made a big donation of clothes, shoes, games, bicycles, and other various items. Instead of leaving them in the local laundry room for people to take as they wish, Joe felt like this would be a good "project" to give to the Boys Group (JH boys redemptive community). The boys came over Saturday evening to sort the donated items. They will be spending this week praying about who they think needs specific items, even if they don't know the people. When they deliver the items, they will be praying with the people and Lord willing, sharing Jesus with them. Please pray for boldness for the boys, for the Spirit to lead them to who they should give things to, and for connections to be made!

Reaching Out

As we are nearing the last quarter of the year, that also means we are nearing the end of reaching our yearly goals. The Salem Oaks are focusing on four major points:

1. Raising up Head of Household Leaders among the different nations.

• 1 Karenni
• 1 African 
• 1 Nepali
• 1 Hispanic

2. Building in roads to the Middle Eastern and Jewish communities.
3. Having each 1st generation disciple leading their own redemptive community.
4. Taking our disciples out of context (out of Los Arcos) at least once each week.

God wants to do a greater work than just inside Los Arcos.

Currently we have one Nepali Leader, Man, but is struggling to see himself as a Leader. Please pray God would raise up a leader in the other 3 nations.

Different Houston team members have connected with one Jewish man on three different occasions, beginning from almost day one of our journey on permanently being on this side of town. Please pray for discernment and action on our part if he is one key person of peace that will start building relationships with the Jews!

Pray God would use our 1st generation disciples to empower those they are leading in their groups to see the bigger picture and continue to reach out.

And pray that as we are taking our disciples out God will start to build connections into the rest of the Salem Oaks area.

Thank you for your faithful prayers!

Susana's Girls

Praise God for the work he is doing through Susana! Karen sisters Htoo Ku Paw and Ree Mi Yar have shown great faithfulness after recently attending multi cultural camp. They were both already believers, but the Holy Spirit has been working powerfully in their lives, challenging them to have a greater sense of urgency in sharing the gospel and to let Him work in their lives more. Susana is very encouraged by the girls' willingness to obey and share. Without prompting, the girls have been sharing and doing ministry with their friends and peers. Susana believes that these girls could potentially be her first generation disciples. She has been pursuing a disciple relationship with them for about a month now (and has known them for a year). They are both already excited to make their own disciples. Please be in prayer that they will be faithful, obey His commands, and that they'll fully give their lives to Christ!

Our Young Karenni Leader

Around the time that some of our team was moving to the Salem Oaks area (back in March), God was preparing and raising up Kho Meh, 15, who would eventually become a key disciple of ours. Katie originally met her while ministering to other Karenni girls in Los Arcos, and she quickly recognized the leadership potential that Kho has.

Kho Meh has since discipled several key people such as Salina (an Ethiopian girl), Purnima (a Nepali girl), as well as Kho's sisters. And Kho is the reason we got connected with Oo Reh in Nacogdoches. He's the guy we posted about months ago who helped to lead several other families to the Lord in that city.

In each of those instances, Katie was always there to coach and disciple Kho in order to be most effective. But since Katie recently moved to Portland, Kho has been surprisingly consistent and diligent largely on her own. She is leading a group for all the girl first generation disciples in Los Arcos as well as co-leading a group for all the first generation disciples in Los Arcos. She continues to be the main translator for the believers in Nacogdoches and plays an important role on the Keystone Team itself.

We're encouraged and blessed to get to be a part of everything God's doing here in Houston, but it's especially encouraging when we see fruit that lasts and flourishes. It's a reminder that the effect our team has here isn't just for a season but rather is lasting and permanent. And obviously Kho and other disciples like her are only the result of fervent, passionate prayer.

(1) Please continue to lift up Kho as one of her main disciples, Purnima, is actively looking for a disciple of her own. God's really changed Purnima's heart the past few months through discipleship and through camp recently. So since school has started up again, she's been praying for a Nigerian Muslim girl in school, Adijat, and is ministering to a Vietnamese classmate, who's interested to learn more about Christ. (In the 1st picture Kho is the girl in the blue shorts, and Purnima is wearing the yellow shirt.)
(2) Kho's also excited because Jacob went with her yesterday to share the gospel with her brother Seh Reh (2nd picute). He's recently showed interest in Christ, and after talking to him about the gospel he gladly prayed to follow Jesus! Please pray that he'd develop a deep relationship with Christ, especially since he lives a couple hours away and doesn't have anyone around him to help him through the process.

Sunblossom Mountain

There is a spiritual battle going on in a local apartment complex, Sunblossom Mountain. Over the years, our team has made many connections and spent a lot of time in this apartment. Various team members have been prayer walking, warfare praying, making connections, and working with people of all ages in this apartment complex. Over the past two months, we have seen multiple religious groups working and interacting with the people. Specifically, the Mormons are working diligently with kids and sharing stuff that is not Biblical with them. Also, a few days ago, Jason met a guy named Alex who lives in the complex so that he can live amongst the people and share his beliefs with them, which is that all religions are right and should be tolerated and that everyone goes to heaven. Lastly, there is a sect of the Muslim religion that rallies teenagers every weekend to teach them their beliefs. Our team has committed to spending more time in prayer and more time in the apartment complex. Please join us in prayer over this issue!

General Team Update

It seems like we often share testimonies of what we see God doing in the lives of those we're ministering to, but it's probably hard to get a full picture of the team dynamics just from our posts. So I just want to give a quick update on a couple of the developments lately.

First of all, Joe and Keri had their baby, Zoe, Friday morning! Please be praying that she would be completely healthy, as she's spent the past few days in the hospital adjusting to life outside the womb. We've been praising God for the new life, and obviously this means Joe will be taking some extra time to focus on the family. We would appreciate prayers in the coming weeks that the Ranchester team would remain united and maintain momentum while Joe and Keri step back from leadership. As one team member quoted yesterday, "Joe is like the glue for the Ranchester team."

In general, the our team has entered into a slightly slower season, now that the summer is over and school has started up once again (although it's likely none of us have really slowed down much at all). In this new season of ministry, we're excited to have gotten a few new team members, since we've been praying for that all summer. We've had to say goodbye to several team members throughout the year, as people have gone to other cities or simply stepped into other works here in Houston, so it's great to see God's providing right when we need it most. With the new recruits, that brings the Ranchester team to about 8 adults and the Salem Oaks team to about 11.

Please be lifting up all the new team members in prayer - Jerome, Jason, Chris & Julia. Jerome lives in Houston and has been called to join our team. He'll likely transition into leadership of Keystone Academy by the end of the school year. He could use prayer that the dynamics in his home would be smoothed out supernaturally so that he'd be free to be a part of the work we're doing in a greater and deeper way.

        Jason was one of two interns that we had this summer, and God has called him to remain a part of our team for the time being. Please pray that he'd have direction for next steps in life and ministry, pray that he's find his 1st generation disciple, and pray that he'd find his role on the Ranchester team.

        Finally, Chris and Julia are from Wichita, KS, and were recently called to be a part of our team, along with their three kids. Please pray that they would quickly get acclimated to life in Houston, as they're still in somewhat of a transition phase. Pray that Chris would know where to invest all of his time in ministry and that he would find a faithful 1st generation disciple.

A Desire for God

Xavier had the opportunity to have Kay Reh in his cabin at multicultural camp. He is a 14 year old Karreni boy. Kay Reh was very impacted by camp and has shown interest in the Lord ever since. Recently after getting a Bible, he began reading it non- stop and not wanting to put it down. Xavier has been explaining the vision to Kay Reh of making disciples who make disciples, as well as describing to him what Gods kingdom here on earth is. Kay Reh wants to be a disciple and given unto God, he just doesn't know what that looks like. Please pray for Kay Reh and for Xavier as he is walking him through this beautiful process!

Htoo Nay

Joe's disciple, Kyaw, introduced Joe to Htoo Nay at the beginning of the summer. The boys are 13 years old and cousins. Htoo Nay wanted to know more about Jesus, so asked Kyaw to share with him. Both Joe and Kyaw saw potential in Htoo Nay and began spending time with him. He went to multicultural camp for the first time and really felt that Jesus wants Htoo Nay to know him more! Praise the Lord. This is Kyaw's third year in Keystone Academy, and now Htoo Nay's first year. Last night, Joe and Kyaw led Htoo Nay through repentance and it was evident Christ was working in him! Please pray for Htoo Nay to continue to seek Jesus and for this to be a powerful year for him as a disciple and as a student of Keystone Academy!

Finding Freedom at Camp

God used Multicultural Camp in so many ways! New believers were made, some made a greater commitment to follow Jesus, and some fell deeper in love with Him! We’d like to share one story from this past weekend.

Here’s a little bit of background:

Fatmata is a teenage girl from an African Muslim family. Her father is an imam, the leader of a mosque, in Houston here. A few months ago Katie and her disciple Hafsa felt like the Lord wanted them to go share with Fatmata, but she wasn’t sure if it was true. Even though she had said that, the two and others continued to minister to her, loving her, and sharing stories from the Word. Katie had given her a bible and told her to start to read it. So she did, but her family was not happy about it and even threw the bible outside.

Fast forward to this past weekend:

Throughout the weekend at camp she participated in discussions, but I (Lacey) could still feel that there was something in her heart holding her back, a chain that needed to be broken.

Saturday day was the girls’ time. Nicole taught on modesty, showing them that God created them beautifully and wonderfully, He loves them perfectly, and that they are precious to Him. She showed them that they are worthy of love, and that they shouldn’t see their worth in how they look. Nicole had them write down three things that they struggle to believe from a video we watched and went through a time of renouncing lies and replacing it with truth. I went with Fatmata and Sing. I told them that before they can tell Satan to stop telling them this lie they need to believe that Jesus died and rose and has authority over Satan, and that the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts gives us this power. She said she believed it all and prayed to accept the Lord into her life!

From the teachings, she understood that the Lord has a deep love for us and He wants relationship with us, He wants friendship. She heard His call to come and accepted!

The next day she boldly asked for prayer for her father’s health, strength for her mother as she continues to run the household, and that she would have strength as she goes back into her family. She then opened up to me. Satan had been telling her lies and trying to put hopelessness, loneliness, and fear into her heart, but God’s Word was stronger than any lie he could have told!

Chains were broken and love was found! My heart was overwhelmed with joy and I continue to rejoice!

On the way home I felt like God wanted me to read John 4. As I was reading verses 35 – 38 stuck out to me.

“You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; other had already done the work and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

I got harvest what others had planted and I get share this joy with those who planted.  Praise the Lord!

Please join us in prayer for Fatmata.

That her roots will grow deep in the Lord.

That she will be strengthened and anchored in the Lord’s love and goodness through any persecution she may experience from her family.

Pray for the salvation of her family!

That she would allow the Lord to continually grow her and change her heart so that she may look more and more like Jesus.

That she would believe that she is valued and precious in the eyes of the Lord.

Other praises and prayer requests from MCC:

Jonish (Nepali) and two karenni girls also prayed to accept the Lord.

Pray Meh asked for forgiveness for the first time.

Htoo Nay took a deeper step towards Christ.

Htoo Ku Paw wants to start sharing the Gospel and be discipled.

Chhali wants to learn more about Jesus (has not fully accepted him yet).

Ree Mi Ra accepted Christ.

Multiplying a Nepali Leader

A couple weeks ago, Jacob began taking Man into non-believing Nepali homes in order to (1) bridge the gap between Nepali Christians and Nepali Hindus/Buddhists in Los Arcos, (2) to find a faithful disciple for Man, and (3) to allow Man to experience, first-hand, God's vision. One of the adults they met was Ram, a Nepali Hindu (far right in the picture). Like Man, he doesn't speak any English, so communicating can be difficult at times.

Jacob and Man went into the home for the first time last week and shared the gospel with Ram. Like most non-believing Nepali's we've encountered, he was interested to learn but didn't want to follow Jesus. However, he seemed a bit friendlier and open to the message than most, so our team began lifting him up in prayer. Man followed up with him last Sunday, and Ram said at the end that he'd like to go to church with him this weekend to learn more about Jesus!

They've since met with him one more time and have continued sharing truth with him, but there are still a lot of walls that need broken down before he'll be ready to follow Christ. Please be praying for him! Some of the main things to pray for are (1) that he'd recognize following Christ is not 'one of many ways to salvation' but instead the only way to salvation, (2) the God of the Bible, who is Jesus, has created all things and is infinitely more powerful than any man-made god, and (3) that he'd begin experiencing Jesus and His power in many aspects of his life, through dreams, visions, signs and miracles.

Also, please pray for Man to understand God's vision and work in a deeper, more practical way than ever before. Pray for great passion in his life as he aligns every aspect of himself with God's Kingdom!

Unexpected Visit

Tuesday night our team member, Lacey, was praying, asking what God wanted her to do that night. She was planning on meeting with her disciple and was looking for direction for that but she heard, "Go see YeeBwee." YeeBwee was a girl she had been discipling last fall and decided she no longer wanted to be discipled. She lives 30 minutes away from Los Arcos at the Ranchester location and hadn't seen her in a few months. Lacey was hesitant about going because she didn't know if Yeebwee would be there and wasn't sure if she had heard correctly from the Lord. But at the Spirit's prompting she decided to obey and go see her.   

Fortunately, YeeBwee was home and they got to talk for about two hours! Lacey felt like she should ask how YeeBwee had been and what has been happening in her life. During their time together YeeBwee shared that most of her friendships (ones where the people would try to pull her down) had been broken, she had come to a place of recognizing her mistakes, understanding she needs to think before acting, and wanting to grow from these things.    

In the end, Lacey was able to challenge her, give her encouragement, and give her a new perspective on how God sees these situations. As she was leaving she shared how God had told her to go there. YeeBwee then shared how two weeks prior to the visit she was feeling down and praying and felt like God had told her, "Don't worry, Lacey will come visit soon." Please be in prayer for this young lady!    

Prayer points:
-  Pray that YeeBwee would be drawn to the Lord as she has these times of solitude.
-  Pray that she wouldn't anchor her love and hope into anything except the Lord.
-  As she is starting high school, pray that God would lead her to a friend that would build her up and encourage her and point her to the Lord instead of the world.

School is Approaching

Next Wednesday, August 26, Keystone Academy will be starting again! Eleven of the twelve boys have already been decided, and the staff is really looking forward to working with and discipling these boys. The staff has been praying and seeking Christ as they plan all aspects of this upcoming school year. Please join us in prayer for the following things:
1. For christ to be first in every decision made
2. Who the 12th student should be
3. For unity amongst the boys who come from various backgrounds
4. That God would provide the support needed for KA
5. That the withdrawal process from the public school will go smoothly

Carina's Connections

Our intern, Carina, has been faithfully pursuing and praying for a first generation disciple. About 3 weeks ago, she met two little girls, Anna (age 11) and Maria (age 10) at an apartment just around the corner from hers. The girls are Hispanic and have a Catholic background, but are very open to learning more specifically about Jesus. Carina shared the creation to christ story with the girls and began spending time getting to know the girls. Anna, specifically, is very eager to learn more and always wants Carina to teach her more; she has been faithful in carrying out assignments, such as sharing with her friends. There are a few specific ways you can pray for Carina's new connections:
1. Pray for wisdom for Carina on next steps
2. Pray that she knows how much time she should spend with them, especially since they already have a pretty good knowledge of God, though some of their beliefs are not Biblical
3. Pray that her time spent with them is Christ- centered and meaningful
4. Pray that God will be working in their lives

Raising Up a Nepali Leader

For the Salem Oaks team, the main people group we've worked with and that live among us are Nepali, the majority of which are Hindu/Buddhist. So since moving into the apartment complex, we've been praying for a Nepali leader that can help us find in-roads and begin making a network of disciples among their own people. Unfortunately, all that we've met with thus far (as far as the adults go) have been either too busy with church/work/family/friends or simply not interested in being a part of the movement.

But we've worked with Man (pronounced Mon) for a few weeks now, and it's been great to see the Spirit working on his heart and bringing him into the vision. He was Hindu most of his life, but he and his family converted years ago after spending more time with the Nepali Christians. Jacob has been discipling his son Sangay for several months now, but he just recently started discipling Man. They hope to go meet Nepali Hindus together on Sunday.

Please pray that he would give his life to make disciples and launch a movement within the Nepali community and that he and his family would continue drawing closer to Jesus!

A Blessed Week

Wow, what a great week we had. God did some amazing things in the lives of our team, as well as in the lives of our visitors! The training was super impactful and really challenged us in many different areas of our lives. One night, each visitor went out with a team member to practice sharing their testimony. The visitors also got to go into the homes of some disciples of the team members. They were even able to visit our redemptive community groups. Three of the Rejoice members, along with some of our team members, were very encouraged by how summer school went. One day, there were 17 kids there! They learned a lot about America and its culture, but more importantly about Jesus. They participated in a lot of hands on learning activities and heard stories from the word daily! We were in awe of how God showed up, and there are countless stories of people receiving the gospel for the first time, the visiting team being challenged to be more bold in their faith, and our team being blessed and encouraged by the visitors. Please pray for a deep, God- centered connection between the visitors ( Rejoice Church, a couple from MI, and a couple from IN). Also pray for our team to rest and abide in Christ as we prepare for the next season of life, including camp and school!

Here are two pictures of some boys during summer school.

Building Connections

This week our team will be hosting a group of about 20 people from a few different places: Rejoice Church from Oklahoma, family friends from Michigan, and friends from Indiana. All of these people are here to see the work God is doing through the team, get training on how to reach and disciple the lost, and hopefully build deep, meaningful relationships. During the afternoons, some of these people will be running summer school with local boys who need more help with English. Here are a few specific ways you can pray for this week:
1. Pray for God to show up in a powerful way in each person's life
2. Pray for unity amongst all the different people
3. Pray for deep relationships to form
4. Pray that we will be empowered to reach more people in the apartment complexes this week
5. Pray that summer school will go smoothly and the workers can make an impact, but more importantly, challenge the boys to live sold out lives for Jesus

Retreat Update

Praise God! The retreat was so refreshing and our team had a lot of good bonding time. We got to do various activities and games together, which was much needed. We also spent time basking in the Lord's presence. We sang praise and worship songs,read scriptures, encouraged each other, planned for the future, and were challenged by our leaders. As we transition back into "regular" life, pray that we will be unified, stay on mission, and take the gospel with a sense of urgency to our apartment complexes!
Pictures: the girls praying and spending time together and some of the boys hanging out

Team Retreat

Our team is heading to a much needed retreat late tonight. We will be there Monday, Tuesday, and leaving Wednesday morning. As we go into this retreat, our leaders have challenged us to spend time repenting and preparing our hearts for what God is going to teach us. We also have been challenged to seek and strive for holiness in every aspect of our lives. The first day of the retreat will be more fellowship and relaxing; God makes it clear that we are to rest in Him and sabbath from our daily lives, and we plan to do just that. Tuesday will be more strategizing, spending intentional time seeking the Lord, and challenging each other as a team. Please pray that we will be unified as a team and open to what God has to show us! This picture shows our team at the ranch one year ago today! Lots has changed, but Christ continues to show His faithfulness to us.

Staying Strong After Training

The team just wrapped up a powerful training with Richard Green. We were challenged and encouraged, and more importantly, refreshed on the vision and what our focus needs to be as a team. On the last day, we commissioned team members Katie and Albert who are going to join the team in Portland, Oregon. We also took communion, prayed for one another, and washed each other's feet. Please pray that our team will not lose focus, strive after Jesus with everything, and be unified as a team. Also, be praying for the unreached and that we can be on mission, listening and letting the Holy Spirit guide us!

New Disciple, David

Recently, David has expressed interest in knowing more about Jesus and taking Him to his friends. He wants to be a leader and his parents believe that he has the potential to do great things for God. Team member, Joe, cast the vision to David, with his family listening. David said that he wants to be discipled, and his family was very supportive of it. Please pray specifically that:
1. Joe will be led by the Holy Spirit and teach David exactly what he needs to hear
2. David will be faithful and grow immensely in the Lord
* picture: Joe casting the vision to David, with his Dad listening as well

Training

Pics: young disciples and team members asking the Holy Spirit to fill and teach each other at the beginning of today's training

Keystone Project levels one and two training began last night in Houston, continuing through July 3rd.

Richard Greene, KP president, in Houston to give the training.

Attendees are some of the team's most faithful disciples, team members, and friends interested in what God is doing through KP.

Pray with us that God will be glorified by...
»» the Holy Spirit leading the teaching and understanding (through language barriers and youth and tired/full minds)
»» attendees supernaturally meeting Christ, hearing and surrendering to his call on a deeper level
»» spiritual protection and holiness of all involved

I will make you become fishers of men

Pics:
1.Oo Reh practicing the gospel
2. Jacob sharing a story from Jesus life while Kho translates

Just last week we asked you to pray for three men at Salem Oaks in whom we saw leadership potential. I've if these was Oo Reh, Karenni man from Nacogdoches, TX, who became a believer just three weeks ago. Pray with us about the exciting things God is doing in this man's life!

Back story

Kho (young team member pictured above) had had a dream about her sister's father in law, Oo Reh, who was Buddhist. In the dream, a man from the team shared a story from the Bible with Oo Reh and God changed his heart so that he destroyed all his Buddhist things. The following weekend Oo Reh and his wife came to visit family in Houston and Jacob (team member pictured above) and Kho were able to share the gospel with them. That night, in the presence of a house full of guests, both Oo Reh and his wife, Ti Mo, prayed to ask God for the new life found in Christ. We gave them audio bibles on mp3 and told them to listen and share with others.

Saturday night

Fast forward three weeks... Last Saturday night Jacob was planning to make the three hour trip to Nacogdoches to follow up with Oo Reh but he came to Houston again instead. He told us that since we met him he had shared with four families, all of whom "said the same as me and wanted to learn more."

He was able to practice sharing the gospel again with Kho and then Jacob challenged him with the testimony of a Muslim convert who shares Christ in the face of persecution and with a story from the life of Christ. Jacob gave him an assignment to go back and share that story with his wife and he asked, "Should I teach it to the four families, too?" Absolutely! What a joy to see the Spirit working in this man's life!

Before leaving we prayed for Oo Reh that God would allow him to make many more disciples, and Jacob challenged him to pray the same for the four families and his wife.

»» Pray with us that the Spirit will continue working in this man and bring salvation to the Karenni people!

»» Pray for spiritual protection for these new believers and for Ti Mo to follow her husband's example.

Casting the Vision with Nah Ka Bo

Nah Ka Bo is in her mid twenties, and recently Catherine and her disciple, Susana, met with her to cast the vision of discipleship with her. She is already a believer and desires to share Christ with others. Back in November, she began ministering to her neighbor who is Buddhist. Her neighbor had brain cancer and Nah Ka Bo prayed healing over her in the name of Jesus, and it worked. However, the lady still remained Buddhist. Her roommate, also Buddhist, has been very open to hearing more about Christ. Nah Ka Bo plans to continue ministering to her neighbors. Catherine and Susanna said that Nah Ka Bo seems open to the vision! Pray that she will be willing to pay the cost and that she will be teachable!

Lead 222

Pic: Sugar Creek student helping Prabina, new Nepali believer, practice a gospel story so that she can go and share with her own friends.

........................................................

This week the middle school students of Sugar Creek Baptist Church are going on mission with Salem Oaks and Ranchester teams, sharing the gospel, picking up trash, putting in sports equipment, praying for families, and doing other service projects for the community.

»»Pray for the students to catch the vision and take the gospel and a servant's heart back to their families and friends.

»» Pray for the families and children they encounter with us, that God will open doors and bring them into his kingdom.

»» Pray for Prabina, pictured above, as she begins to share with her friends.

Nine African Nations

At Los Arcos there are families from at least nine African countries (see map): Kenya, Rwanda,  Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gabon, Congo, Uganda, and Gambia.

Alfred Varney, Keystone ministry partner from Liberia (you prayed for his family when the Ebola outbreak prevented him from returning home back in October) has re-joined the Houston Salem Oaks team with a vision to see a movement launched among these people.

These families come from a variety of religious backgrounds:
Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and Seventh Day Adventist, among others. All of them struggle on some level with brokenness, both physical and emotional, memories from the wars that made them refugees, and the social, family relational, and economic pressures that come with moving to a new place and culture.

»» Pray with us for a movement to be launched among the African community at Los Arcos that will prepare them to go out as missionaries to their own people, both in the States and in their home countries.

»» Pray for insight into the spiritual barriers that prevent them from knowing and growing in the Lord.

»» Pray for the language barriers to be breached.

»» Pray for an African leader, head of household, to rise up to unite the African community under Christ and his mission.

»» Pray for Alfred to be led and empowered by the Spirit in ministry and here, and that he and his family would be guarded from the evil one as he had been away from them now for over a year.

Dialoguing with Mormons

On Saturday, Joe (team member) took his disciple, Kyaw, to prayer walk and see if God wanted them to share with anyone. Kyaw ended up sharing the Creation to Christ story with two young boys named David. As they were headed back, they ran into three young Mormon boys. The boys recognized Kyaw, and Kyaw recognized the boys. Their faces also looked familiar to Joe,as these boys are assigned and sent to share and work with people in the area complexes. Our team has been praying about how to handle the various Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses that spend time talking with many of the families around us. Joe and the three Mormon boys talked briefly about what each other is doing and what their purpose is. Joe then invited the boys to his house on this coming Tuesday afternoon to "dialogue". He hopes to get a better understanding of what the Mormons believe; more importantly though, he plans to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them and use scripture to back up everything he shares with these boys. This could be a huge breaking point with our team, as we have been praying and wrestling about what to do and say with these people who are coming and teaching our people the wrong things about God. Please join us in praying that Jesus would reveal himself to these boys on Tuesday.

Picture: Kyaw sharing the creation to Christ story with the young boys, shortly before having an interaction with the Mormon boys.

Training to Reach the Jews

Picture: Jewish ministry training, led by Joe Forest, meeting in one of the Keystone Academy classrooms.

Today and tomorrow we are hosting a training on ministering to Jewish people with Joe Forest who has some experience in this field.

»»Please pray that the Holy Spirit will give clear direction and vision to our team during this time.

»» Pray for a couple/family with a calling to work with the Jews to be raised up to join the team and move into the Jewish community in Salem Oaks before the end of the year.

»»Pray protection for Joe and the team, that the enemy may not be allowed to distract or take away from the Spirit's work through this training.

»» Pray for the hearts of the Jewish community to be prepared to receive the gospel!

Thank you!

Potential leaders at Salem Oaks

Pray specifically for Emmanuel, Riziki, and Oo Reh.

>> Pray that each one may encounter Christ deeply and supernaturally and be radically changed for the gospel.

Emanuel - Eritrean father, working two jobs, has a passion for making disciples but doesn't have the time to pursue it.

»» Pray that he will find a job that will provide for his family and give him more free time to be discipled.

Riziki - young man from the Congo, recently connected with the team and excited about the vision, also tied down in part by his work schedule.

»» Pray that Riziki will realize and commit to the sacrificial lifestyle required to make disciples as Jesus did.

Oo Reh - Karenni grandfather, former Buddhist, lives 4 hours north of Houston, came to Christ 12 days ago while visiting family here after a prophetic dream moved our team to seek him out.

»» Pray that God will continue to strengthen this man (and his wife who also followed the Lord that night) and allow us to visit him soon.

»» The mp3 audio bibles we gave them before they left have stopped working. Pray for electronic healing and/or  supernatural dreams to continue feeding these spiritual babies!

Four key leaders

At Salem Oaks, one of our goals by the end of the summer is to find and begin discipling four men of peace, key leaders among the Nepali, Karenni, Latino, and African people groups. By the end of the year our desire is to see these men raised up to launch movements among their own communities here.

This goal was made as a result of multiple team members coming out of time in prayer with this same desire in our hearts. However, we understand that this cannot be accomplished by any effort on our part. The Father must draw these men; the Spirit must convict them; and the Son of God must set them free.

Join us as we ask God to move on the hearts of men, and that we may be led by his Spirit as we search diligently for the ones he is calling!

Susanna's Newest Disciple

A while back, we wrote about Susana, Catherine's disciple. She is 24 years old and is Karen; she has been extremely faithful to the vision and to making disciples of Jesus. Last year around Mother's Day, she began a simple relationship with a little girl named Ahzeeza. At the time, Ahzeeza was 6 years old; she is also Muslim. At first, Susana would just have her to her house to play games and eat snacks. Eventually, Susana started telling her about Jesus and how much He loved her. Ahzeeza's family told her not to visit Susana's house because they knew she was a believer. In spite of their requests, she continued visiting and learning from Susana on a regular basis. Recently, Ahzeeza decided to accept Jesus as her personal savior. She is now 7 years old and very curious about knowing as much as possible about Christ. Susana was able to share the creation story with her as well. Please be praying for this relationship and that Ahzeeza can be bold in her faith. Also pray for wisdom for her, as her family would not agree with her decision if they found out. Lastly, pray for Ahzeeza's grandmother, whom she lives with; the spirit has laid it on Susana's heart to share the gospel with her as well.

Mehmor's Sister and Her Family

> Picture 1: members of Mehmor's extended family. Woman in back is Mehmor's sister, and new mom of twin boys. Mehmor, pictured on right, is holding one of the twin boys.
> Picture 2: team member, Keri, holding the second twin boy.
>
> Mehmor is a member of our team. Her family is Karreni and originally lived in Burma, then Thailand, and now in Houston. Recently, her oldest sister and her husband had twin boys. They are two months old. They were living in Massachusetts, but they felt that it would be best to move here to have extra help from their family.
>
> Specific prayer requests:
> 1. For Mehmor's brother in law to find a job here in Houston so that he can support his family and allow his wife to stay home with the twin baby boys. He has been in the US for just one year, and is having a difficult time adjusting to the culture and learning English.
> 2. For Mehmor's sister, and her family, to find Christ and be discipled by someone on our team. She is catholic; Mehmor is asking for prayer that she will find Jesus and accept him as her personal savior.
> 3. Overall, pray for the baby boys in general. Pray for them to get accepted into WIC asap so that they can get diapers, formula, etc. Also pray that their mother can continue to recover from the birth of the twins.

Growing in faith!

Pics:
1. Party in the laundry room
2/3. Practicing sharing bible stories in pictures

Pray for these girls (and some guys not pictured) who meet together weekly and are learning to depend on the Holy Spirit to lead each other in redemptive community. This group is especially multicultural, representing Nepali, Rwandan, Karenni, Karen, and American people groups.

»»Pray especially as summer brings more free time that they will stay close to the Lord and grow in faith and faithfulness as many of them have their own disciples.

»»Pray for their families, specifically their parents, to see the Lord in them and be called to seek him more intimately themselves.

Jewish Community

Pics: Private park in a Jewish neighborhood across the street from Los Arcos

There are 50,000 Jews in Houston.  Salem Oaks team is currently head quartered at Los Arcos apartments which is located directly across the street from the largest community of Jewish people in the city.

It's a special type of neighborhood called an Eruv, surrounded by walls that make certain Sabbath day practices possible, allowing the people to continue following the Jewish law while living in the midst of a city of "gentiles".

The apostle Paul wrote to the Roman believers about the Jews, saying,

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved... if they do not continue in their unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy" (see Romans 10 and 11).

Current day ministry among Jewish people looks very different from Paul's ministry, as well as from disciple making among refugees. The  team has little to no experience or knowledge of it.

So, June 13th and 14th we are hosting a training with a brother in Christ who has experience ministering to Jews.

»» pray for this community as a whole to be softened and prepared for the gospel

»» pray for a key man/family of peace to be found among them who will have influenced in the test of the community

»» pray for a married couple with a calling to minister to the Jews to join the Salem Oaks team and move in to this community by the end of the year

»» pray that the rest of the team and our disciples will be empowered through the training in June to pray and minister effectively